Improvement in apparatus for piercing cloth for button-holes



UNITED raras Aralar trice.

DANIEL NV. WHITNEY, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT lN APPARATUS FOR PIERCiNG CLOTH FOR BUTTON-HOLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 36,59% dated September 30, 1862; antcdated August 23, 1862.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL NV. WHITNEY, of the city. county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Device for Cutting Button-Holes in Tents, Garments, Sac., and I do hereby delare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specilication, in which- Figures l and 2 are plan or top views of my invention; Fig. 3, a vertical section of the same, taken in the line x x, Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding partsin the several gures.

The object of this invention is to obtain a device by which button-holes may be very expeditiously cut in tents and in garments, and the places also marked where buttons are to be attached.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents a platform or bed, to which a series of vertical cutters, a, are attached at a suitable distance apart and in a line corresponding to that in which the button-holes are to be cut -in the tent or garment. The cutters have their cutting-edges at their upper ends, and they are secured to upright bars b, as shown clearly in Fig. 3, the bars extending upward a trifle farther than the cutter. The bars b serve as guides, to enable the cloth to be adjusted properly to the cutters in cutting the button-holes. In Fig. l the cutters and guides are shown placed in three sides of a square, each knife indicating the place where a button-hole is to be cut.

B represents a rectangular frame, which is connected at one side by hinges c c to the platform A, and at the side or part thereof which has no cutter attached. (See Fig. l.) The frame B is of such dimensions that when folded down it will iit within the cutters a, and three sides of the frame are perforated with holes d, and these holes d are in line-with the cutters a, as shown in Fig. l, and they are at such a distance from them as to correspond with the distance desired between the bottom holes and the buttons. In this arrangement ofthe cutters, guides, and frame the device is designed for tent-work-that is to say, for cutting the button-vholes at three sides of the cloth and marking the places Where the buttons are to be attached.-

The operation is as follows: The piece of cloth or canvas is cut of the proper size, and the edge c, which does not require to have button-holes cut in it, is placed on the side of the platform A where there are no cutters. One side f of the cloth or canvas adjoining the side e is then adj usted against the bars or guides b, and the button-holes cut by pressing the cloth or canvas down upon the cutters, which penetrate the cloth or canvas. The

other sidef of the cloth or canvas is then treated in a similar manner, and then the side g. The frame B is then turned down upon the cloth or canvas and an awl forced down through the perforations d, the awl marking the places where buttons are to be sewed on the cloth or canvas. It will be understood that the buttons at one side of the cloth are designed to be fitted in holes made in an adjoining piece. In case the button-holes are required to be cut in a curved line, as is necessary in some kinds of garments, the cutters and guides must be arranged accordingly, and the frame B made to correspond in form at its edges or sides.

A modification of the arrangementjust described is shown in Fig. 2. In vthis case the cutters c are not employed, awls or points h being used instead. rlhe cloth or canvas, however, is manipulated in the same way, the awls or points perforating the cloth or canvas and the button-holes cut by passing a knife or chisel, constructed for the purpose, through slots t' in the frame B', which corresponds to the frame B in Fig. 1. The places for the buttons are marked on the cloth or canvas by passing an awl through perforationsj in the frame B, inthe same way as described in referring to Fig. 1.

I would remark that when the awls h are The invention Vis exceedingly simple, may loe-manufactured at a small cost, and by its use the forming of the button-holes in tentries of perforators with a frame and platform,

Cloths and garments will be greatly expearranged substantially as and forthev purdited. poses herein set forth.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let- Vitnesses:

ters Patent, is- MoRITz M. LIVINGSTON,

The combination and arrangement of a se- JAMES LAIRD.

D. W. WHITNEY. 

